


Evansville

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-24
Updated: 2004-04-25
Packaged: 2018-12-27 13:25:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12081936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Brian and Justin are two gay boys in smalltown Iowa.**feedback appreciated**





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

Brian was busy stocking the shelves at his father’s grocery store when Justin breezed in. It was hot for September in the small town of Evansville, Iowa. And Justin being not the least bit shy about who he was dressed only in a pair jean shorts and a white undershirt tank top that revealed the golden brown tint his skin held, definitely not a farmer’s tan.  
Justin walked past Brian and grabbed a carton of Milk and headed toward the counter. Brian had paused the first time he had walked by, seemingly intoxicated by his scent. It wasn’t cologne, it was natural. After the initial shock he remembered he was the only one in the store and walked toward the register. He found Justin at the only check out lane the store had leafing through a three month old National Inquirer. Brian almost laughed out loud at the look of piqued interest and intense concentration on Justin’s face. This, from the boy that he had heard around, to have gotten a 1500 on his SATs, as a junior no less.

Justin looked up as Brian stepped behind the register. He could tell from the look in those beautiful green eyes that the boy was struggling not to laugh. He’d seen Brian around school. He was really smart, on student council, ran track. A real all American dream boy. The not-too-tight jeans and gray t-shirt fit Brian’s laid back casual nature perfectly and gave Justin thoughts about what he wanted to do with ‘his’ dream boy.

“So, if you’re done browsing…I can check you out.” There was a smile in his tone and in his eyes but his facial features betrayed nothing. The pun wasn’t lost on Justin as he put his carton of milk and the magazine on the counter and Brian quickly rang them up. 

“Your total is 2.15.” Brian said as he absently stuffed the magazine and milk in the same sack. And then handed Justin the receipt.

Justin paid him and grabbed the sack. He quickly glanced down at the receipt when he came to the door and smiled. He turned.

“Hey…you didn’t charge me for the maga…” But Brian was already gone. Back to stocking shelves no doubt. Justin smiled and exited the store.

Brian watched as Justin left. That was some smile. He was reliving it over and over, that beautiful smile and those beautiful eyes. Jesus. He was so focused on Justin he didn’t hear the door slam behind him and his father’s heavy footsteps. 

“BRIAN! What are you doing?” Jack Kinney’s voice boomed through the entire store, Brian could have sworn the foundation itself shook.

“I was just finishing up the last of the stocking, pops.” Brian set the last few cans on the shelf and picked up the empty cardboard box. Jack quickly surveyed the rest of his immediate area, the store was immaculate. 

“All right, you’re off then.” Jack dismissed him with that and moved toward the back of the store. Brian nearly screamed in joy.

Justin had been sitting in his car for almost fifteen minutes. Trying to work up the courage to go back and ask Brian out or something…anything. But he didn’t. He sat there. And then he saw the doors to Kinney’s Grocery open and Brian stepped out. His graceful lean form seemed to soak up the sun. Justin caught his breath and then he realized he was still sitting in the parking lot. He started to pull out but Brian saw him first and had already started toward him. He paused foot hovering above the gas pedal, but he resisted and put the car back in park. He waited for Brian’s approach.

“Hey.” Brian said. He looked over the baby blue pick-up covered in mud and well used.   
“Hey.” Justin was screaming at himself on the inside ask him! Ask him ASK HIM. “So you’re off?”

“Uh…yeah.” Brian’s hear beat a million miles an hour…was Justin going to ask him out? Did he have the strength to say no? Shit.

“Where you off to?” Justin asked innocently enough.

“Nowhere special.” I’m such an idiot, Brian thought. Nowhere special? Who says that? Me apparently. 

“I can change that.” Justin froze. Had that actually come out of his mouth? Nice work genius. 

Brian didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. He was searching for something, anything, anything at all to say. He looked at Justin and those ocean blues laughed at him. Justin just tilted his head to the passenger’s side and then put the truck in gear. Brian didn’t hesitate, didn’t think, he just ran around and got in. And Justin drove off.   
They drove in silence for almost the entire trip to Justin’s house. It was a big farm probably 10-12 acres. His parents wrangled cattle, horses and rotated soybeans and corn every 3 years. Justin had been working the farm since he was 7 and the manual labor had done him good.   
Justin parked in the drive and turned to Brian. He stared at him for a minute. Taking in his shaggy chestnut colored hair lightly tanned skin and flawless facial features the boy was gorgeous. Justin purposefully leaned in close to Brian and whispered into his ear.  
“Be right back, gorgeous.” Shit. He hadn’t meant to add that last part. But he just can’t seem to control his mouth today, oh well. Too late to worry now.

Justin opens the door and grabs the milk and runs into the two story white farmhouse. Brian can’t move. He hears Justin whispering to him over and over he still feels the warm breath on his neck. Gorgeous. He’s gorgeous. 

Justin came out of the house and got back in the truck and once again Brian’s senses were assaulted by the smell of him, the sight of him. The drove in silence again until Brian thought he would go insane. The air between them had become so thick he could barely breathe.

“So.” Was all he could manage?

“So.” Justin replied amused.

“Where are we going?” Brian didn’t make eye contact; instead he stared out the window and watched Iowa’s bland landscape speed by.

“Getting nervous?” 

“No. Just curious.” Brian fidgeted in his seat. And it was quiet again. “Justin?”

“Yeah?” 

“Uh…never mind” 

“Okay.”

They pulled up to a stoplight and Brian glanced outside and saw the city limits sign.   
“Jus…” he didn’t finish because Justin had suddenly turned toward him and pulled him tightly to him. He looked at him and then gently leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Once. Twice. Gradually the kissing got deeper and deeper. They sat through two red lights before they calmed down.

“Jesus…” Brian tried to regain control over his heartbeat.

Brian stared as Justin drove on. Without really realizing it Brian’s hand and gradually moved across the seat to gently clasp Justin’s on the gearshift. Justin smiled at the road when he felt Brian’s warmth spread from his hand throughout his entire body.


	2. Evansville

“So, how long have you been working at the grocery?” Justin asked as they sad under a tree off to the side of Evansville Lake. The road they had taken was nothing more than a dirt path and nothing but Justin’s 4-wheel drive would have made it.

“Since I could walk.” Brian said with little humor. “Seems like I learned how to stock shelves before I could talk.”

“Same with me and the farm. I was milking cows at five.” Justin sighed, “and wrangling cattle at seven.” Justin got up and moved toward the water stripping off his shirt and his jeans and then turning to face Brian.

“Doesn’t look like it did you any harm.” Brian laughed.

“More than you know.” Justin suddenly serious turned away and gazed out over the lake. “More than you know.”

Brian watched him for a moment. Justin was beautiful standing in the reflection from the lake and the dimming light, but his body language screamed tension. His shoulders were taut and his arms lay frigid at his sides. Almost as if he was fighting hard not to run, or not to cry. Brian stood and took of his t-shirt and jeans and moved toward Justin until they stood next to each other looking at the lake. And for a moment they were both lost. The lake was still dead still, the surface like a mirror, unrealistically calm.

Impulsively Justin broke into a sprint and dove gracefully into the lake. Brian moved slowly forcing himself not to laugh as Justin came up sputtering from the cold. He neared the water’s edge and slowly walked out to Justin who was now recovering from the shock. 

“So you’re the Jump first think later type huh?” Brian mused.

“Shut up” Justin turned away hiding his reddening face, Brian chuckled lightly and Justin splashed Brian with a heavy wave of freezing lake water. Brian, of course, splashed back. The war had begun. Soon, the water didn’t matter at all it was only a means for obtaining a smile. And Justin’s was worth it. Every time a hurling wave crashed over his head his face lit up, like sunshine. Soon they were both out of breath. And Justin moved toward Brian arms raised in mock surrender. 

“I give.” But he couldn’t hide his mischievous grin, and Brian closed the space between them and had both Justin’s hands before he could reach for more water. 

“You give, huh? So I win?” Justin smiled, broke Brian’s grip without much effort and turned away. Brian just laughed. “Sulking after the defeat?” 

Justin kept his back to Brian contemplating his next move. Brian was quick. He turned back to Brian only to come face to face with Brian’s lightly tanned chest. He looked up and smiled his left hand slowly reaching for the water that came to about mid-thigh. Brian grabbed his arm and pulled Justin into a crushing kiss. And then let go and smirked at the stunned look on Justin’s face.

“See. I can jump first too.” Brian walked out of the water and sat on a rock to let himself dry. He followed Justin with his eyes as he made his way to where Brian sat and promptly began shivering. It was so easy, so natural for Brian to pull the shivering body into his circle of heat. He maneuvered Justin until the shorter boy was sitting between his legs, with wet blonde hair against his chest. They sat in a comfortable silence. Letting their body heat speak for them. They watched the sunset. Yellow turning to a dark orange to a pinkish red and eventually the blue-violet of the night sky.


	3. Evansville

Brian ran nearly tripping over his own legs as he scrambled to make the homeroom bell. He slipped through the door and into his seat just as the annoyingly loud screech came over the intercom. Mondays were not his favorite day of the week. Chemistry class began and creeped on so slowly Brian thought he’d lose his mind. And his thoughts kept turning toward that blonde blue-eyed angel and the way he laughed in the water and smiled at the sunset. He remembered the conversations they’d had sitting there on the bank overlooking Evansville Lake and felt a strong sense of nostalgia because he wasn’t there now, he was here. In chemistry. 

Justin couldn’t believe that he could feel so alone sitting in the lunchroom. There had to be at least 80 people surrounding him and at least 20 in his immediate vicinity. He kept searching for his hazel eyes. He knew more about Brian Kinney and Brian Kinney knew more about him than Justin was willing to bet any other person in the world did. They had shared their souls. They had spent so many hours on the bank. It was their place. They talked mostly. And it was only those few stolen kisses and the underlying sexual tension that made their relationship more than a friendship. They didn’t bring it to school though, their feelings for each other were known only to them. Mostly because neither knew what it meant, but both of them were sure it wasn’t something they should tell people.   
Brian entered the cafeteria followed by what Justin had dubbed his groupies. Four girls endlessly in love with the athletic intelligent and no doubt attractive senior and followed him around everywhere he went. Brian sat at a nearly empty table that was soon filled with football players, cheerleaders, and the groupies. He didn’t eat, he never ate lunch Justin had noticed. And then Justin looked at his plate overflowing with disgustingly unappetizing school lunch and then at the art kids, drama geeks, and general outcasts that surrounded him. And the differences were there. He looked again to Brian’s table and smiled as he watched Brian tell his friends a joke that Justin had told him the night before, at the lake. Brian’s eyes lit up and for a second he looked straight at Justin and they shared their own private laugh. 

Brian waited at the back of Kinney’s for almost thirty minutes becoming increasingly concerned. Justin was never late. Never. He finally decided to head home and get his car. As he walked to block to his house he was unsure about what he should be feeling. Should he but upset that Justin stood him up? Or worried that something had happened. No. Nothing had happened to him. He got in his black 66 corvette and drove to Justin’s farm. He inwardly cringed as he pictured the dust settling on his paint job, this is why Justin drove. He parked in front of the house and turned off the engine. He was about to get out when he heard shouting from inside the house. There was a loud crash and impulsively Brian got out of the car. Just then the door of the house opened and Justin bolted out into the yard. He stood there staring at Brian unable to comprehend why he was there. He looked at him and registered the pain and confusion on the other’s face.   
Brian didn’t know what to do. He looked Justin over and noticed the black and blue marks on his tanned skin and face. He registered the blood spots on his shirt created by his bleeding lip and the cold look in his eyes. Justin moved to Brian’s car got in and waited. Brian slowly made his way back to the car and got in too. 

“Drive.” That was all Justin said. And Brian obeyed. He started the car and drove as fast as he could out of Evansville, trying to put as much distance between Justin and the pain. Pain that coursed through his body as well. Pain he couldn’t stop. He didn’t know that he had been crying until he felt Justin’s finger on his cheek as he brushed away the tears. Brian pulled over twenty miles from the city limits. There was nothing for miles. Nothing but them. 

Brian looked at Justin again and turned away he felt the tears again and didn’t try to stop them. Jesus, it hurt so bad and he couldn’t explain it. Justin slowly moved until he was sitting on Brian’s lap and gently turned Brian’s head. Brian kept his eyes down.

“Look at me, baby.” 

Brian slowly moved his head and looked at Justin tears still trickling down his cheeks. He reached up and ran his fingers across the bruise around Justin’s eye. 

“Why?”

Justin looked away and Brian suddenly didn’t want to know.

Justin’s voice was quiet, a whisper. “You.”

Brian could say nothing. Suddenly, guilt washed over him and he couldn’t breathe. He had been the reason for the marks the bruises the—pain Justin had.

“One of your friends, Bradly, followed us one night when we came up here.” Justin spoke, detached, clear. “He saw—everything. He told his parents who told mine.”

Brian envisioned the look on Jack and Joanie’s faces when some god-fearing neighbor appeared on their doorstep to tell them about their son. Brain looked again at Justin and didn’t care. Justin was all that mattered. All that he wanted. The only thing he wanted.


	4. Evansville

Brian drove them to the lake. And they sat in their place looking across the water and wondering what each other was thinking. Occasionally one of them would reach out to touch the other, just to be sure they were still there, still real. Soon the sporadic touching became slow caress and before they knew it they were in each other’s arms. Justin was startled when Brian slowly pulled away and looked at him.

“Do you think that this, us, is wrong?” Brian questioned. 

“No.” There were tears in Justin’s eyes when he said it. “I love you.” 

Brian didn’t say the words that were running through his head. Instead he pulled Justin to him in another passionate kiss. Brian lifted Justin’s shirt and gently pulled it over his head. His hands roamed over the sun-kissed skin, then he leaned down and pressed soft kisses on even softer skin. Justin gasped as Brian’s lips closed over his nipple and he rolled his head back as Brian continued his caresses. 

Justin’s hands began unbuttoning Brian’s shirt and soon the older boy was shaking it off, and it was Justin’s turn to explore. Justin pushed Brian down so he had better access. He kissed his way down Brian’s strong tan chest and gently ran his tongue around Brian’s belly button. Brian’s breath sucked in and Justin smiled against his stomach. Justin’s small hands began to work at Brian’s belt buckle, they shook a little from nerves and a little from inexperience. When Justin unbuckled and unzipped them Brian pushed the pants to his ankles and then kicked them off and groaned as Justin cupped him through his underwear. Justin dipped his head and ran his tongue along the top of his underwear ellicting yet another moan from Brian. 

Brian reached down and pulled Justin up to him so he could kiss him. As his tongue explored Justin’s mouth he felt so happy and so comfortable. And then…there was a loud screech and then the yelling.

“What the hell are you doing!” Brian froze, his heart literally skipped a beat. He suddenly couldn’t breathe. He knew that tone, he knew that voice. He knew before he heard it that it was Jack Kinney. “My own son, a goddamn fairy!” 

“Brian!” his mothers voice was shocked and sad, but stern all the same. “You’ll go to hell for this. You will.”

Brian stood, non-chalently pulling on his pants and shirt. He looked at Justin who’s eyes and body language betrayed the fear his face was trying to hide. Brian steeled himself as Jack and Joanie approached. He looked them dead on and didn’t flinch when Joanie’s hand flew through the air and landed with a loud slap across his face. 

 

“Your little friend’s mother and father came here. Told us what you—faggots—have been doing.” Jacks voice was tinged with hatred. “Sneaking up here, doing—god knows what—I want you out of my house. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

Brian said nothing, he showed no emotion he stood stoic and unfeeling. He blocked it out. 

“This one,” Jack pointed to Justin. “His parents asked us to bring him home if we found the two of you, said they’re going to send him to therapy. Don’t think I’ll be wasting a penny on you—you’re a disgrace to the Kinney name. Whole town knows about the two of you. Everybody knows.”

Brian’s eyes bored into Jack’s and without hesistation Brian spoke. “It’s all right that you don’t want to spend money on it, it would be wasted. I’m a fag , Dad! I’m not going to change. I like dick, I like to suck dick, I like to screw other guys. Not going to change. You can kick me out and pretend I don’t exist but the fact remains, I will always, always be YOUR QUEER SON. No matter how many ways you try to disown me. Your sperm made me alive, hell, it probably made me gay.”

Brian spoke the last sentence with such defiance that he convinced himself it didn’t matter what Jack said in response. 

“You’re a pervert, and a sinner and I hope you burn in hell. Better yet I hope you get that gay disease and rot.” With that Jack turned and walked with his tearful wife towards the car. Once they reached the vehicle Jack called out to Justin.

“Your parents want you home, god knows why. I promised I would take you home to them and I’m a man of my word. So you either come with us and see if those doctors can fix you or you rot with that kid. Your choice.” Jack got into the car and sat idling on behind Brian’s car. 

Brian didn’t look at Justin, he wanted to beg him not to go. He wanted to throw himself in Justin’s arms and beg him not to give up on them. But he had seen the paleness in Justin’s face and the regret in his eyes when Jack had spoken. He felt deep inside that Justin would leave him to face it on his own. And so, he wasn’t surprised when the blonde walked past him to the car. Justin turned to face Brian one last time and his eyes were filled with tears. Brian refused to show the hurt, betrayal, and fear that was coursing through him now. He stared blankly at Justin as the boy let his tears fall.

“I’m sorry. I have to.” Justin’s voice was pained and dry. And then he walked away. He got into the car and Brian watched as it disappeared a few miles down. Went to sit on the beach and watched the lake settle as the sun set. Brian remembered another sun set where he had told Justin that he loved him, it was only days ago, but now it felt like years. Brian stared across the lake and promised himself two things. He promised himself that he would get out of this hellhole, he would go on to bigger and better places and be somebody and he promised that never again would he give somebody the chance to hurt him, the way he was hurting now.


End file.
